


Dragon Age Warden's Tale

by Steven218



Series: Dragon Age: Warden's Tale [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21713245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steven218/pseuds/Steven218
Summary: Focusing on the Hero of Fereldan after The Mother's defeat.
Series: Dragon Age: Warden's Tale [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564996





	Dragon Age Warden's Tale

VOICE BY Seneschal Varel

 _One week after the Mother’s defeat, chaos still reins in the lands of Amaranthine. The Horde, even without the Mother's voice to command them, continued their assault on Vigil’s Keep. Upon hearing word, The Warden Commander, mustered whatever forces that remained in the City of Amaranthine, to aid the Keep’s defenders. After two weeks of continued fighting, by both the Keep's soldiers and the Commander's reinforcements, the men were able to break through the siege and cause the surviving darkspawn to scatter. Though victory was assured, the battle did not end, as the Commander rallied his men to move out into the field in order to defend the isolated towns and villages from the broken horde. To improve the sweep and protect his men from ambushes, the Commander has issued his surviving Wardens to go with them with the addition of having them send any surviving civilians to the Keep. The Warden's upon getting their orders seperated, with the Commander and his unit going southwest to hunt down a large group of Darkspawn stragglers._  
End voiceover  


It’s been half a day since they departed Vigil’s Keep, half a day of marching through the wet fields. Whether the wet feeling was water or blood, the men did not know nor did they care. Half a day of dealing with groups of darkspawn and losing men from either the enemy’s blade or their wounds. Their armor once new and glimmering silver two weeks ago was now dull and grayish. Dents, cracks, slash marks, and blood were throughout their whole armor. Half a day of marching, their legs bleeding, eyes red shot, and dark bags underneath them. Their faces, boney and barely recovering color, screamed for rest after continuous battle with the darkspawn and although they wanted to stop, no one did. Not one soul within their ranks dared to speak, especially to the man leading them, who donned the armor of the Grey Warden Commander.  


That man, Aedan Cousland, continued to march on. His armor more baterred than any soldier within the group, darkspawn blood covering nearly every part of his body except the hand holding his shield. Those who were close to the Commander while marching, saw the dark blood enter through every hole and crack. While even one soldier saw the blood burning the outer layer, yet when he looked at the Commander’s face for a reaction, he found none. No trace of pain or anger but a calm and focused expression. Moments later the Commander motions the group to a halt, and in the distance two scouts run towards them. Though the men knew trouble was coming, all were just happy that they stopped marching.  


The leading scout, Sergeant Reeves, approached the Commander, face dirty and dry, his arms shake as he salutes to the Commander. “Warden Commander, sir” says the scout, whose voice was cracking.  


“Report Sergeant” the Commander says in a commanding voice.  


With heavy breathing the sergeant speaks, “A large group of darkspawn, have begun raiding a village a mile from here. But as soon as they began their attack, I noticed a small group detach themselves from the rest and continued on the road. From what I can tell they were following a group of civilians fleeing the vicinity. I left the other two scouts, to follow their trail. If we go now we can save the civilians fleeing but we will lose the village and the few survivors within.”  


The Commander pauses, trying to figure out what move to make. Some of the men look to one another, unsure of what to do either. After a moment to get his thoughts together, the Commander looks to his men.  


“Alright men lets move out,” and starts jogging to the village. The men follow suit, with a few letting out small grunts.  


The Commander tilts his head toward the scout and speaks aloud, “Listen up men here’s what we’re going to do.,” the men tense up, “We are going to split up into two groups. The first group which consists of ten people under the command of Sergeant Reeves, will meet up with the other scouts and deal with the darkspawn after the refugees. Get the darkspawn’s attention on you and bring them back to the village if you can but the most important thing is to lure them away from the people. The second group will be with me as we deal with the darkspawn raiding the village. Doesn’t matter if no one is alive in the village, we need to eliminate those darkspawn.”  


The men in unison speak out “SIR YES, SIR.”  


“Sergeant Reeves, pick out the men and separate when ready”  


“Yes sir,” replies Sergeant Reeves. He motions his hand to ten soldiers “You’re with me.”  


“Sir yes sir,” the ten men replied. The two groups slowly drifted apart and went their separate ways. As soon as they reached the village the Commander screams out “CHARGE” the men raise their shields and pushed their drained legs to the limit.  


They charged straight into the village, straight into horde, and to some straight into their weapons. Terrors and screams were drowned out as steel and wood clashed against one another. The soldiers dealing with the darkspawn were outnumbered two to one. Every parry and hit they gave or received reverberated into their bones that caused a few bones to crack, yet they did not relent.  


The Commander yelled out a terrible shout while banging his shield. He wanted to get every blighters attention and was successful but not from his taunt alone. It was by the aura he surrounding himself in, so thick and powerful that even his own men felt the crushing presence he let out. The darkspawn knew that if they were to survive, that they needed to take out the Commander and so a large majority chased after him. Luckily the Commander was no fool as to let them surround him, so he would run when a large group came close, while making short work with the ones that charged at him alone. His sword, VIGILANCE, cut through the darkspawn’s armor, weapons, and flesh as if it were butter. His action allowed his men to quickly dispatch the remaining darkspawn fighting them and after that, they came to the aid of the Commander by eliminating the slower darkspawn. After ten minutes the battle was done, the darkspawn were dealt with, but when they looked around the village, they found no humanoid survivors. The only thing alive was two horses mounted to a wagon.  


“Everyone form up” screamed the Commander, “We need to go and aid the other group.” the men groaned slightly as they slowly got into formation. As the men were about to leave a small scream is heard. The Commander motions four men to find the source.  


The continued screaming eventually leads them to a collapsed house., as they approach closer they here a small cry of a child. The men work together to clear the debri. Rummaging through they find the child underneath a large piece of what appears to be the roof. The men work together to pick up the roof while the Commander reaches underneath with his shield arm, and grabs the child.  
“Hold on,” says the Commander as he pulls the child out of the hole. As he is pulling, he notices the child underneath a corpse that shielded her from the collapsed roof. When he finally pulls her out he breathes out a sigh of relief and calmly says, “You’re safe now.”  


The child, a little six year old girl wearing torn clothing, continues to cry out. As she opens her eyes to her rescuer, the first thing she sees is the silver insignia of the griffon blazing across his chest. Going further up she sees her rescuer’s face covered in dirt and blood, smiling softly to her. She slowly stops crying and stares at him.  


A single soldier walks up to the Commander and speaks, “Sir I got the men mobilized and ready to go.”  


The Commander nods to him and slowly stands up. He grabs a dirty blanket in the debri and wraps the little girl. He then picks her up and takes her to the wagon. He puts her into the wagon. “We’re taking the girl with us, we have no time to take her to the Keep and we may need the carriage to carry any wounded.”  


The soldier nods and prepares the horse carriage. The Commander looks to the girl.  


“I know I am asking much from you but I hope you can hide in the carriage while me and the men deal with the monsters. Can you do that?” The little girl with tears in her eyes, hesitates for a bit but nods to the Commander and lowers her head into the carriage. The Commander smiles and orders the soldiers to move out.  


The little girl though staying out of sight from within the carriage, peeks her head out when she begins to hear cries and explosions. She saw things, that no little girl should see at her age. She sees the brave man and his men fighting off hordes of terrifying monsters that destroyed her home and family. Soldiers defending the refugees as they run from the monsters. While in the thick of it all she sees the brave man in the center of the battle, never losing ground and never faltering. Her eyes bewildered by the sight of the griffon emblazoned on the his chest, crying out into the night.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Late at night the men and women are heading down the road, the little girl cramped in the carriage with a group of refugees. Some she could see were injured, while others were tired and exhausted, many were either the elderly or young yet none she knew. She looks out the carriage to see more refugees walking beside them, the few soldiers still alive remained on the outskirt, all bloodied and beaten holding a torch in one hand while a sword in another. Further ahead of the group she could see the Commander keeping his vigilance as they march.  


As the group walk further, the survivors start to notice shapes appear out in the darkness just beyond the road. The more they walked, the bigger the shapes grew. Eventually the shapes reached the light emanating from the torches held by the soldiers and the people could see what they were, Darkspawn corpses. They ranged from the humanoid Hurlocks, the bulky Genlocks, the boney Shrieks, and finally to the massive Ogres. Their black blood dripping unto the ground, mixing into the soil and withering the grass and weeds underneath them. As they approached the first wall the refugees could see hundreds of arrows lodged into the wall, blown out sections that emanate green fire, boulders laying next to the wall with only two lodged in. Piles of darkspawn bodies covering the entire base of the wall, with some actually reaching the top. Only less than a dozen soldiers stood guard up above, weapons ready as if another battle was about to come. As the group went further in, more corpses filled the ground. Majority were darkspawn corpses while the remaining few were soldiers clad in silver. Many of refugees gasp, some in shock while others in horror.The little girl catches a glimpse of one soldier looking away from the corpses.  


They eventually reached the inner courtyard, with many finding surprise to see it filled with people while the fortress was surrounded by corpses. The new arrivals could see civilians getting food and warm blankets from merchants and soldiers, though it was mainly stale bread and watered soup. At the grounds keep, multiple healers are tending to screaming soldiers and civilians. Some were on blankets while many were on the grass. Those who laid motionless were taken by the soldiers and thrown over the wall.  


The cart eventually comes to a full stop. The soldiers open the back and help the survivors off the wagon. The little girl sees the brave man leave. She tries to get down but has trouble. She eventually gets down by one of the soldiers and immediately runs to the direction he went.  


She goes into a large crowd but she soon realizes her mistake as they begin to squish her. She manages to escape the crowd but when she looks around, she can’t figure out where he went. She looks hard and wide, searching through the men and women walking around the courtyard for any person looking like him. A little glare comes from the distance and in her small eyes, she sees the symbol of the silver Griffon. Her heart races as she runs toward the shiny Griffon, passing soldiers, horses, carts, and refugees. When she finally reaches the Griffon, the girl was dumbfounded to find out that it was not the same man. She looks a bit closer and she realizes, it wasn’t even the same armor, no metal around his body but leather instead. He had sleek black hair and his nose was weird.  


The man looked to the little girl and tilts his head. “A little girl?,” said the man in a gruffy voice “What are you doing here? Are you perhaps lost?”  


The little girl begins to tear up, hands covering her eyes. The man is startled by this and was prepared to get someone to help him but a voice soon speaks up from the crowd.  


“Nice going Nathaniel, you went and scared a little girl” said the feminine voice.  


Nathaniel irks from this and retorts back, “It’s not my fault Sigrun, she just showed up and started crying.”  


Sigrun, a dwarven women wearing the same Griffon symbol as the man, goes to the little girl and takes a knee, “Are you ok, little girl? Where you searching for someone?” said Sigrun. Her face perky though she has large bandages around her waist.  


The little girl seeing the happy tattooed lady, stops crying for a bit and nods.  


“And what did the person look like?” said Sigrun.  


“He..,” the little girl trying to keep her voice together from the crying as she spoke “he was a Griffon with metal armor.”  


Sigrun scratches her head from this description. Sigrun mumbles, “A Griffon wearing metal armor huh.” She looks to Nathaniel’s chest, showing the Griffon insignia and then back to the girl. “and you mistook him for that man and that’s why you’re crying.” The little girl nods. Sigrun thinks for a minute and realizes who she meant. She looks to Nathaniel again and with confidence asks him “Do you know where the Commander is?”  


Nathaniel looks around the courtyard and spots him near the wall, speaking with Captain Garevel. Nathaniel points to the direction.  


Sigrun looks to the little girl and says, “Let’s go see the metal Griffon.” The little girls simply nods and walks with Sigrun and Nathaniel.  


Garevel leaves as soon as the three approach. The little girl runs to the Commander and latches on to his leg. The Commander is startled by the sudden action but soon realizes who it is. “It’s you.” says the Commander, “how did you find me?” The little girl points to Sigrun and Nathaniel.  


“So Commander,” Sigrun says, “ can you explain to us why this little girl is holding unto you so tightly,” she says with a judging look, “Is she a forgotten child from your past love life.” Sigrun smirks from this.  


The Commander’s checks begin blushing a bright red, “What...NO. She’s not my daughter but… wait that’s beside the point.” Nathaniel and Sigrun give a surprised gasp from this revelation. The Commander calms down a bit and sighs. “ I found her in a small village south from here today. It was attacked by darkspawn but by the time we got there she was the only survivor and well...” A large growl suddenly comes from the little girl’s belly. The little girl hides behind the Commander’s legs.  


“I know that sound anywhere,” says Sigrun as she looks to to the little girl, “better get her something to eat or else another one comes.”  


The Commander sighs, “Let’s get you something to eat then.” says the Commander. The little girl nods. He opens his hand to which the little girl quickly grabs on to. They both go into the Keep while Nathaniel and Sigrun stay outside, looking at the Commander with a smug expression.  


As they walk through the Keep, the little girl notices people sitting down by the walls. Some were tired, others injured. She eventually sees two kids hugging their mother as she wraps a dirty blanket around them. The little girl tightens her grip on the Commander and he notices. Eventually they reach the kitchen, the head chief walks to the Commander and bows.  


“It is a pleasure to see you my Lord,” says the Chief, “how may I serve you” as he looks to him and the little girl.  


“Small meals for both us and don’t worry it doesn’t have to be fancy.” he motions to the little girl as she slowly backs behind him. The chief simply nods and prepares the meal.  


Five minutes later both the Commander and the little girl are sitting down, eating vegetable soup with warm bread and apple juice. The Little girl digs in as she eats her vegetables. She dips a part of the bread soaking the nutrients from the soup and quickly takes a big bite. She chokes from the excess of food and goes to her juice, drinking the content hastiley. The Commander chuckles from this little scene. “You should slow down” said the Commander, “Or else you might get an upset stomach afterword” as he takes a bite of carrots. The little girl slows her pace but continues to eat recklessly.  
After eating for a bit and enjoying the taste of the soup, the Commander snaps his fingers,“You know what. After all this time, we still haven’t introduced each other,” says the Commander. The little girl shakes her head in agreement as she chews on a potato. Aedan puts his hand over his chest and does a light bow to her. “Forgive my rudeness but my name is Aedan Cousland.”  


“My..” the little girl finishes chewing the potato, “...my name is Samantha Willo” she takes another bite from the bread.  


Mistress Woolsey enters the room. Her eyes as sharp as ever, even when she has bags over them. She goes to the Commander while tapping at her board and speaks, “Warden Commander sir,” Woolsey says, “I have an update on the total damage assessment on both Vigil’s Keep and the City of Amaranthine.” she taps on the documents in her hand. Aedan groans from this and looks through the pages as Samantha continues to eat.  


“My God…” whispers Aedan as he messages his forehead, “This is worse than I can imagine”  


“Not only that sir but the other wardens need to know about what has transpired,.... every Warden.”  


Aedan’s eyes twitch for a second before looking to Woolsey, “Is the room prepared for me so I can prepare the message.” Woolsey nods.

He looks to Samantha, who drinks her soup. He smiles, “I’ll be heading out for awhile, would you mind going with Mistress Wolsey.” Samantha cheeks filled with soup nods her head “mmhhmm” she says while letting a bit of soup drip out of her mouth. Cousland chuckles a bit and then leaves.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


The Commander walks through a dark corridor deep within the complex maze of Vigil’s Keep. Passing through staircases and corridors, he eventually reaches a room with the torches on each side extinguished. He enters the room to see a pedestal in the center with a small orb etched in lyrium on it. He touches the orb and recites the Grey Warden oath. The orb glows and spins rapidly. The room distorts and blue flames start emitting across the room. Sixteen figures appear before him, all covered in darkness with their eyes glowing white.

The center figure walks toward the Commander, his figure bigger than the Commander.

“This is quite unexpected Commander,” the figure says without displaying any emotion, “You were suppose to contact us the moment you arrived, a week at most, but it’s been two months already. What happened?” 

Cousland lets out a long sigh, “It’s a long story” he regals them of what happened with losing every warden that came from Orlais, The Architect and The Mother, the awakened darkspawn and the children as well as his trip in Kal Hirol, the Wending Wood, Black Marsh, Dragons peak and the battle for Amaranthine and Vigils Keep, and finally to his decision of sparing the Architect. 

Once finishing his story, nearly every single figure begins to move erratically.  
“I don’t believe it?”  
“How is this possible?!”  
“Sentient Darkspawn!?”  
“How are the Darkspawn evolving so fast?!”  
“These Children are a danger to us all!”  
“You said they came from a human broodmother.”  
“Could the other Broodmother types spawn different darkspawn as well?”  
“We must alert Orzammar of this threat?”

The central figure waves his hand and everything goes quiet.

He lets out a small shrug, “This is most troubling news indeed, I did not expect the Darkspawn to evolve this quickly…. at least not yet.” Cousland eyes widen as well as others. “In addition to this, all the reinforcements we gave you are gone.”  
He lowers his head, “Except for Woolsey, yes” replies Cousland, “Not only that but most of the land is either blighted or in ruins.”

A heavy sigh comes from the figure, “Very well, I will gather more men from our ranks, and have them sent to you to help deal with the aftermath. I was going to wait and provide you with these additional funds once settled, but you need it now more than ever.” Cousland nods, “In addition, I will also send your teacher in.”  


Cousland is shocked by this, “Is this wise sir, considering the state the land is, she could..” The figure waves his hand and Cousland stops speaking.  


“Do not worry so much, she has been trained well to deal with situations like these, and she will be a great asset in setting up the groundwork for our operations in Fereldan.” Cousland simply nods.  


The central figure looks to Cousland, “WARDEN COMMANDER COUSLAND” Cousland stands at attention, “It is now more imperative than ever that you rebuild Amaranthine from the ground up and turn it into a beacon of hope for the world. The evil that is threatening to swallow this world is starting to make its move, and you may be the only one who can keep it at bay. We have warned the world countless times of the danger and they have ignored it, only to take interest when the threat is already in their home. The world is divided and isolated, with the people at each other’s throats. It is nearly impossible to do this but you alone have a chance with Fereldan to unite the people and stop the evil once and for all. We will help as best we can but you will mostly be alone.” the Commander gulps, “The fate of the world is in your hands, Good Luck Warden Commander.” the orb stops pulsating and all the figures disappear. The Warden Commander is the only one left, on his knees sweating profusely and breathing heavily. He gets back up and slowly walks out the door.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“God dammit!” the Commander exclaims with heavy breath, “Wasn’t prepared for that meeting and used all the strength I had to stay awake.” his hand clutching the wall for support as he slips back and forth of consciousness. Staying awake for two weeks fighting Darkspawn, organizing search and rescues, and maintaining order with few moments of rest has taken a toll on his body. He barely made it back to the throne room. Sleep deprived, he slides to the floor behind a bunch of crates and boxes containing emergency supplies, with his back behind the wall. He is unable to get up and slowly falls asleep. In his last moments he sees the little girl Samantha rush to him, she looks to him happy and shares the blanket she had with her and sleeps beside him. The Commander smiles and drifts away in sleep.

Sigrun and Nathaniel are walking around the throne room, “Where did that little girl run off to,” says Nathaniel as he looks around the room, “You really have a way with kids Nathaniel,” Sigrun says as she chuckles from the thought.  


Nathaniel groans in annoyance, “Why did Woolsey make me take care of the kid,” as he looks around the boxes.  
Sigrun looking under the temporary beds, “Well maybe you shouldn’t have said hi to the little girl,” seeing nothing she gets back up, “Then maybe Woolsey wouldn’t have given you the responsibility.” Nathaniel  


“What are you two doing?” says Velana as she walks into the throne room alongside Oghren and Anders.  


Sigrun brushes her chest, “Well we’re looking for a little girl, have you seen her by any chance.”  


Velana with an annoyed look, “I just got here. Do you really think I know where this kid is.” Velana crosses her arms. Sigrun pouts her lips. The laughter of the troublesome duo catches the other’s attention. Oghren and Anders point to behind a couple of boxes and tells them to come over. Curious the three go over to see The Commander sleeping beside the little girl, with the dirty blanket wrapped around them. Oghren and Anders chuckle, Nathaniel lets out a small smile, Velana blushes, while Sigrun admires the scene.


End file.
